Meet poet Amareshwar Pandey, author of Meri Lekhni.
Title: Meri Lekhni
Author: Amareshwar Pandey (Shreyas)
ISBN: 9789363550926
Publisher: Evincepub Publishing
About the author: Amareshwar Pandey (Shreyas), a 22 year old psychologist and Phd student of Psychology from DDU Gorakhpur University. In 2020, published his first book(poetry) named “Yuva Man” in which the different types of feeling of youths were discussed through simple poetic words. He has a deep interest in society and its psychology and also have a keen interest in literature both Hindi & English. He also has experience of poetry recitation and its operations on different forums. He believes that through poems and couplets one can easily express and explain his/her points to people. Apart from writing poems, he also writes novels and short stories in english.
Question – What inspired you to write Meri Lekhni?
Answer – I love writing poetry and when I wrote my first book “Yuva Man” it motivates me to write more. What I write is for everyone and it should reach to everyone and honestly what inspired me is the title itself “Meri Lekhni. People should know what Meri Lekhni is all about.
Question – How did your background in psychology help you in writing these poems?
Answer – Psychology help me to understand the human behaviour aspect and it helps me to observe the world in little bit differently. While writing poems like “Main Gumaam Hoon”, Badlav, Insaan Kaisa Ho, etc my knowledge of psychology help me to explore and include the human quotient in the poems and not only in the above mentioned poems but in other poems also.
Question – Which poem from this collection is closest to your heart, and why?
Answer – Picking the closest to heart poem is difficult and for me next to impossible because I put my heart and soul in each and every poem which is write. Every poem creates a different world for me and I enjoy living in that world. If I am enjoying while writing the particular poem then it is close to to my heart.
Question – When did you first start writing poetry?
Answer – In class X I wrote my first poem. At that time I was naive and not much aware about poetry and literature, but still I have that passion to write something of my own. I used to listen poetries at that time and my father also played a key role in inspiring me to write poems, articles and other literary works.
Question – Your poems cover many topics like love, society, and spirituality. How do you choose what to write about?
Answer – I never choose what to write or in which genre to write. The first line of my poems tells me the direction or in which genre I will write. It is all about the thought and that first line. Yes, sometimes when I am in certain mood then I intentionally explores one genre, for example; when I wrote Marta Tha at that time I was in that zone because I was handling a suicidal case of a girl, and her experiences drives me to write that poem.
Question – Many readers feel deep emotions in your poems. How do you bring such feelings into words?
Answer – It’s all about imagination, if your imagination power is good and you know how to use words according to your imagination then it becomes easy to bring feeling into words. Experience is also very important but for me imagination and observation is more important. In my first book “Yuva Man” I wrote a line इन शब्दों का क्या है इन्हे मैं आवारा समझता हूँ, मैं एक शायर हूँ यारों, इश्क़ मोहब्बत प्यार वफा बिन किये भी लिखता हूँ।
Question – What is your writing process like? Do you follow a routine or write when emotions come?
Answer – I write when emotions come. I believe if you follow routine in writing poetry you will not deliver what you exactly want to deliver. You are in routine and have to write because you do not want to break that routine and this impacts the writing. Yes, sometimes emotions are very raw and vague but when words are attached with the emotions it amplifies it and you will deliver what you want to.
Question – You write in both Hindi and English. Which language do you feel more connected to while writing?
Answer – Hindi is my first language so I feel more connected to Hindi then English. The flow of words and thoughts are more smooth when I write in Hindi.
Question – Can you share your experience of publishing this book? What challenges did you face?
Answer – My experience of publishing this book was good and I have not faced any challenges in publishing because the process was smooth and fast.
Question – As a young poet, what message do you want to give to today’s youth?
Answer – I think I am not capable enough to tell something or give message to them but I just to to say observe, analyze, process and then act. If interested in something then go for it and believe in god, he has written something good for you.
Question – How do you deal with writer’s block or creative difficulties?
Answer – I take short break from writing and talk to my family and friends about various things apart from poetry or writing. Also I analyze my difficulties for 2 to 3 days, and then work on it by reading books, listening different poetry sessions. These things help me to overcome writer’s block.
Question – Apart from poetry, you also write stories and novels. Do you plan to publish those soon?
Answer – Yes, but it will take time as novels need an environment and currently I am not getting that space to write but trying to complete it as soon as possible.
Question – What kind of books or poets do you like to read? Who is your biggest literary inspiration?
Answer – I like to read Manoj Muntashir, Paritosh Tripathi and Amish Tripathi (for novel writing). But I follow old songs more. The poetry, the soul, the depth and meaning in the old songs attracts me more then books. I listen old songs very often and the vocabulary which I have is because of listening old songs. The biggest literary inspiration is my father. His knowledge and understanding of literature inspires me the most.
Question – Do you think poetry still holds power in today’s fast digital world?
Answer – I think it still holds it’s own space in this fast moving world. There are issues with today’s world as social media and AI is taking over the basic sense of the human but poetry is something which convey feelings in the most easy way, so I think poetry is still powerful.
Question – What advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing poetry?
Answer – Explore as much genre as you can. But if one want to write in one genre or any one types of poetry then explore different aspect within that genre. And most important observe the world little bit uniquely it will help your writing and thought process.
